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STORY PITCH Wednesday, 1 October 2008 |
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| VaST is devoted to designing green environments that are inspired, architecturally distinct, energy-efficient, and high performing. |
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KEEPING BUSY IN SLOW TIMES
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Principals of small architecture firm find several ways to give back.
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| BGBG Board of Directors. | ||||||
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| Joseph, Brandy and Carmen with their exchange student Haruka. | ||||||
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| Brandy with Doug at a BGBG event. | ||||||
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| You’ve heard the news haven’t you? The economy is down. Times aren’t quite as rosy as they have been. Many small business owners are experiencing a slow down at work. What do they do during the slow times? Joseph Vigil and Brandy LeMae, a dynamic husband and wife team who own VaST architecture, say they have very little work right now, but are finding a lot of ways to keep busy and give back to the community.
Rather than just sitting on their hands waiting for the next paying job to come in, Brandy and Joseph are making the most of this down time by volunteering for community organizations close to their hearts. Joseph has been on the Board of Directors of the Boulder Green Building Guild (BGBG) since it’s inception, but in 2008 he stepped up to be Board President and he sits on the Membership Committee. A couple weeks ago when a call came in from the Northern Colorado Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) asking if Joseph was interested in being on their Board, Joseph looked at his open calendar and said, “Yes” without hesitation. “What better time to volunteer then when business is slow.” In addition to these two boards, Joseph can also be found at University Hill Elementary School Improvement Team Meetings and working with Arapahoe Ridge High School as an Advisor to their Construction Trades Program. Earlier this year when the Center for ReSource Conservation (CRC) decided to move their offices, Brandy and Joseph offered free design and architecture services to the organization. “This is an organization we really believe in and we appreciate the work they do, so when they asked us for help at a time when our schedule wasn’t too full, it was very easy to say yes.” commented Brandy. The CRC offices are now complete and open to the public. “Joseph’s volunteer schedule keeps him pretty busy, but I also wanted the opportunity to do my part. So when Ken Regelson called me a couple months ago about volunteering for the Yes on 1A Campaign Committee, I was happy to put it on my schedule.” Brandy ended up creating the Yes1A.org logo, yard sign, postcard, flyers and print advertising. “I’m proud of the way everything turned out and look forward to the ballot issue passing this November.” LeMae comments. In addition to the 1A Campaign, Brandy also helps the BGBG with graphic design projects from time to time. She also just put in about 10 hours working on a community presentation on green building materials sponsored by the BGBG. And, if all that isn’t enough. Joseph and Brandy, along with their 7-year old daughter Carmen, are a volunteer host family for Youth for Understanding (YFU). This year they are hosting a 15-year old from Yokohama, Japan. Carmen says, “I love my Japanese sister. She is really fun and she helps me with my homework.” |
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